Hay River's third Chase the Ace lottery began on Jan. 19.
Fort Resolution's Carol-Ann Chaplin won the right to draw for the ace of spades, but drew the queen of spades instead.
Chaplin won a weekly prize of $273.
Like in the two previous Chase the Ace lotteries in Hay River, the weekly prize and the jackpot for drawing the ace of spades will grow from week to week.
The new lottery is being run by the 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games (AWG) Host Society, which also ran the previous lottery that ended in December.
Keith Dohey, the host for Chase the Ace and the chair of the fundraising committee for the AWG Host Society, said the first night of the latest Chase the Ace seemed a little slower than the first night of the previous one.
"But I think that's to be expected," he said. "We just had a Chase the Ace not that long ago and after the holidays it's tough. Everybody is slow after Christmas, after New Year's. But we're still OK. We made a little bit of money tonight, and if we can keep that up every week going into the games, it's steady income for the games and that's what we're after."
Ticket sales on the first night totalled $1,365, half of which goes to the AWG Host Society.
During the 12-week previous Chase the Ace that ended on Dec. 1, the AWG Host Society made about $25,000.
However, that was far shy of the profit made by the Hay River Curling Club, which presented the community's first Chase the Ace in 2016.
That lottery ran for 43 weeks and ended with an overall prize of $511,034.
Dohey said the AWG Host Society is hoping for a long run, but it's a gambling event that could end with any draw.
"At the end of the day, I really think the first one that the Curling Club did really was an anomaly," he said. "I don't think that's going to be the standard for Chase the Ace as it carries on in Hay River."
Todd Shafer, the general manager of the AWG Host Society, said the organization was happy to be awarded a licence by the Town of Hay River to run another Chase the Ace and it will help offset the costs to run the Arctic Winter Games.
"So the revenue is great and the opportunity to do it again is also a great fit for us," he said.
With such a fundraiser, the ace could get drawn the first night, Shafer noted. "But we're hopeful that it will last a little bit longer and generate a little bit more excitement."
The next Chase the Ace draw will be on Jan. 26.
The Town of Hay River awarded the latest Chase the Ace licence earlier this month.
The town had two applications, but only the one from the AWG Host Society qualified for consideration under the Chase the Ace Bylaw.